LONDON.- A vast collection of 30,000 toy soldiers accumulated by Dutch collector, Gijs Scholtens, is to be sold at
Bonhams, Knowle, as part of its auction of Toys, Dolls and Soldiers on 5 April 2011.
Echoing the historic journey of Stadtholder William III of Orange (later King William of England, married to Mary II of England), in which he landed on British soil in 1688 with Dutch troops, and quickly shifted to relying on the British Army, Scholtens arrived in Britain this year with his own extensive army, already comprising mainly British troops.
Scholtens, a former lawyer, has been fascinated by anything army-related for his whole life. As a student he was a member of the University of Leidens Pro Patria defensibility society; aged 58, he became Reserve Officer in the rank of Major in the Army, and later Chief; and in 2007 and 2008 he was sent to Afghanistan to establish a legal authority in Uruzgan.
He started to collect toy soldiers in 1993, sparked by a visit to London toy store Hamleys with his daughter, who was 16 years old at the time. Having acquired his first boxes of Britains toy solders, series 8800, he began to buy at collectors fairs and markets.
As is evident in the collection, his favourite toy soldiers are the British Household troops and colourful Highland Regiments. Highlights include Britains Infantry of the Line on Guard (estimate £200 300); Britains General Staff (estimate £200 300); Britains Medal Model Mounted Household Cavalry (estimate £300 400); and Scottish Toy Soldier Company Napoleonic Dutch Imperial Guard Regiment (estimate £200 300).